Tuesday, March 06, 2012

{TWD:BWJ} Rugalach and Lovely Ladies

Good morning!! It is Tuesday so that means I get to tell you about a delectable recipe from Baking with Julia! Once you have read the post and see how tasty this recipe turned out make sure to check out Jessica from My Baking Heart or Margaret from Urban Hiker to see the recipe or buy the book and join in the baking fun!

This week's recipe is Rugalach....no not Arugala, Rugalach. ;) The contributing baker for this recipe was Lauren Groveman. She has a delicious looking recipe for candied citron on her blog so make sure to check her out as well.

Way back in 2008 we TWD'ers made Rugalach from Baking from My Home to Yours. Mine was pretty ugly but tasty. This time I decided to follow the recipe as closely as possible. The cream cheese based dough came together easily. I made Apricot Lekvar (apricot butter) from page 449 of BWJ which I had to go to the liquor store to complete due to not having Amaretto in the house. I did reduce the amount of nuts just because I didn't have enough and didn't want to go back to the store.

The hardest part of making these was the time it took for everything to chill. I decided to make these for a gathering of Lovely Ladies in my neighborhood and ended up baking them the morning of the event. I was a little worried that they wouldn't turn out well just because they were kind of stuffed and didn't really roll very well. No need to fear though because a plethora of cinnamon sugar can cover a multitude of baking sins. :)

The best part of these was that they were still warm as I was putting them into the bowl to take them to the gathering. My kiddos were tasters and said that they were delicious. My cooked fruit hater of a daughter may be coming around because she said she even liked them. My husband on the other hand ate the extra cinnamon sugar dough pieces that I baked. He liked those without all of the extra fruitiness. ;)

Recently our neighborhood has started several Facebook group. One of them is for the Lovely Ladies of the neighborhood. I missed the first one for some reason but was able to make it to this one. It was on a Saturday morning so I was able to head to the library with my family and then head to the gathering that was being held at a house in the hood.

This little guy..or could be a girl made an appearance while I was there. :)

Several of the ladies there are very dear to me. Even though we don't get to see each other all the time I have know them for over ten years now and enjoy spending time with them when I get the chance. :)

One thing women are good at is bringing food! There was so much food at this brunch that it was impossible to pass it up. It was fun to see how creative everyone got with what they brought....bacon and brown sugar wrapped saltines...WHAT???? It is so fun getting to know some of the neighborhood ladies. I know there are so many areas where people do not know their neighbors at all so it is nice to live somewhere where people are making an effort to actually be a neighbor.

Just as I was about to leave the gathering a sweet lady asked if the pastries in my hand were rugalach. I said yes and she asked if I was Jewish. I told her that I am not but that I am in a baking club and this was the next recipe. She was very impressed with them but told me that when she makes rugalach she cuts the fruit smaller and makes them in a crescent shape. We had a lovely conversation about the different ways to make them and the tradition in her family of making these sweet pastries. So, who knew? I made a new friend over Rugalach! :) Go make these now! You will not be sorry and you may make a new friend!

9 comments:

looks like you had a lot of fun with yours :) mine didn't turn out pretty either, but my little girl didn't turn one down this morning. the official taste tester is at work, so, i'll know more this evening.